


nobody ever would.

by shelazarus



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Eventual Romance, F/M, Post-Low Chaos Ending, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow Dancing, Soulmates, anyways emily is hot as fuck and probably ripped gnight folks, but like not really but trust me u'll get it, deadass this rating is not going to say t forever bc i Luv Sin, low chaos everyone, post death of the outsider
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-06 01:42:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12201378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shelazarus/pseuds/shelazarus
Summary: caught  in  the  middle  of  this  dysfunction   /   it's  your  sad  reality .





	nobody ever would.

**IMPERIAL EMPRESS JESSAMINE KALDWIN ONCE SAID THAT THE RULE OF GRISTOL'S WEATHER WAS _SIX DAYS OF RAIN TO ONE DAY OF SUNLIGHT._**     the day that jessamine met the end of daud's blade, the capitol was filled with bright light. dunwall was glowing like the heavens and emily could have sworn she heard angels singing as her father came home to her. whatever angels emily had thought heard would never forgive her for what she thought later. a  _single_ moment in the golden cat in which she wished corvo had died and not her mother. fifteen years later and she still regretted that more than  _anything_ else. wishing the death of the man who saved her, who raised her after the death of her mother and believed in her more then she believed in herself. after that day, she swore neither her thoughts or blade would touch death again.

delilah's coup changed that. her blade was clean but her thoughts not. she could never kill someone, not if she ever wanted to look corvo in the eyes again at least. but that did not stop her wanting it. to leave kirin jindosh a corpse for his monsters to find and not just a blubbering mess. sever breanna ashworth's head from her neck and not her connection to the void. to ignore all instinct and bring both the duke and his body double down. how she dreamed for months after that she could force delilah's spirit inside of her and torture until she was nothing more then a bloody mess. but she was raised on non-lethal warfare. for every person she spared, that was one more person who was able to go home that day. to see their mother or father, their brother or sister, their spouse or their child. the empress permitted life and when she took back her crown, none could say that she committed a true crime.

that did not mean she didn't miss the weeks 'pon the boat. the rumble of the ship became familiar and lulled her to sleep at night. it was strange to be back in her own bed again, having finally cleared the last of delilah's bloodbriars from her home. karnaca was different. the moment she stepped foot there, she felt lighter. without the cold press of the throne against her back   **&**  the weight of the crown on her head. just a piece of fabric covering her face as she breathed the fresh salt air in deeply.

it was a strange kind of freedom. not the  _true_ freedom that emily yearned for but the closest she could ever get. she knew each moment that she wasn't on the throne was one more that delilah had to cause havoc but that did not stop her wandering. dancing in the streets with the common folk, spending the last of her coin on freshly baked bread and befriending the people she ruled over. she wasn't imperial empress emily drexel lela kaldwin, first of her name, empress of the empire of the isles, lamb of the east, child of the storm, defender of light and hollow. she was emily.  _just_ emily.  _just emily_ with the outsiders mark burned into one hand.

**UNTIL IT WASN'T.**

until all of dunwall heard the empress  _screaming_ in pain and only her father and long time friend, felix brair, were permitted to be in her room alongside of her. downstairs, nurses and the rest of her raevanka court stood in wait. in  _fear_. for what could cause the empress of iron such pain?

the mark was undoing itself. 

while delilah snatched corvo's with a whistle and a hiss, emily's was unbecoming. felix and corvo were forced to watch as the  _ink_ turned into scars    **/**   which merged with her skin. line by line. as she desperately tried to use her powers, hands clasped in pain    **&**   begging for someone to help her. there was nothing they could do. only the outsider could help her. and as far as corvo was concerned, he was the one who was doing this to her. first he had branded her and now he was taking it away. tears carved their way down her cheeks, lungs hollow and burning from her screams, body curled around itself in pain as she clasped her hand   **;**  as if she was trying to stop the mark from leaving her skin. they tried to comfort her, to console the empress but neither of them had the words to express it. corvo, who had spent the last fifteen years trying to protect her from all harm, was watching as  _once again_ , she was in pain and he could do nothing.

he stood by the shrine in the imperial safe room, screaming to the void that the outsider _needs_ to come and explain himself. but nothing happened. not a light from the shrine nor a whisper from the void. in fact, it felt more empty then before. as if  _something_ was wrong. something was wrong in the void. after delilah, he never got his mark back. but at least it didn't hurt. hands brushed at her hair, a soft whisper of  _you'll be okay, my dear_ to her and corvo wondered if the lie was more for her or for him. she  **had** to be okay. if not for him, for the empire. she had no children, no legitimate family left. without emily, the empire would be left alone. he assumed that one of her court members would take over. _kaytan sargaeth_ , the niece to luca abele might take over. they were a strong leader and corvo was sure of her good heart. perhaps one of the aglarys twins. _konstantin_ and _margarete_. the last surviving relatives of the tyvian princes. he trusted margarete more but she was the youngest of the two and therefore, would not be placed on the throne unless her brother was deceased or abdicated. there was something about konstantin's eyes that made him distrust the younger male. _felix_ was the son of a member of the presidium  -  and wished to join himself one day. he would make a  _suitable_ replacement for the empress, if something were to happen. _arish jindosh_ held no royal blood and no one would trust the sister of kirin jindosh now. she was out.  _svetlana aikary_ was the bastard child of esma boyle, she could never lead either.

_wyman_. he should have lead them, despite their lack of royal blood. everyone knew that if emily was to one day marry, it would be to wyman. she loved them. but the guards in morley turned as soon as the coup happened and wyman was dead before anyone could blink. no one was truly acceptable to lead if emily was to fall   **(** but if corvo had to pick, it would be felix everytime  **)**. at least he was wise, he was smart. he grew up on politics and was always at emily's side during balls and parties, as to help guide her in the ocean that was the royal courts. 

only  _five_ people knew of the mark that had bloomed on emily's hand during her time away. her father, of course. anton sokolov. felix - an accident, just like meghan.  _billie_. just like billie. and the outsider himself. the man who gifted her with the mark. and now was taking it away. hours bled into days and by the end of the week, the mark was gone. as far as everyone was concerned, emily had contracted a virus during her recent trip to morley to retrieve the body of her lover. how she had wept for weeks when she heard what happens to wyman. until she woke up one morning with a face of stone and demanded that they go to morley so she could give her lover a proper burial. 

' —— father? '  her voice is soft, her body aching and her hand  _bare_. tears well in her eyes as she stares up to him.  ' it's gone, isn't it? '

his head nods softly, arms instantly going to wrap around his child. the mark was a safety blanket. knowing that no matter trouble one ended up in, there was always a way out. that one could always escape    **/**   even if they were branded as a heretic.  ' it will be okay, i promise you. '

he spends the rest of the night comforting her with felix at his side and making false promises to her.

**Author's Note:**

> honestly i thought of this whole concept while i was at work and came home and rush wrote it! sorry if there are any mistakes but i think i caught most of them? the outsider will be in the next chapter, promise! ( tbh he'll p much be the focus of the next chapter since he's currently hanging w/ his Actual Canon Mom billie on a boat right now ).


End file.
